


A Kiss is Enough

by lizzrossstories



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M, Fluff, Implied DJwifi, a little bit of angst i guess, aged up AU, brief mention of Tikki and Plagg, non miraculous au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-09-10 14:31:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8920726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizzrossstories/pseuds/lizzrossstories
Summary: Marinette’s parents thought it was funny that she moved to the opposite side of Paris only to work at another patisserie  But she needed the extra cash and lulls throughout the day like this one always gave her some time to sketch out a new design. Of course, the presence of a certain ex-model certainly didn’t hurt.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Look another coffee shop au to add to all the rest! Hope you enjoy!

Marinette’s parents thought it was funny that she moved to the opposite side of Paris only to work at another patisserie (to which she would always counter with a. she moved out to study at one of the finest fashion and design institutes in all of France and b. it was a café not a patisserie and their pastries were nothing compared to her parents’). But she needed the extra cash and lulls throughout the day like this one always gave her some time to sketch out a new design. 

The environment helped a lot. The constant aroma of coffee mingled with the scent of fresh bread danced in the sunlight during warm days and teased those that passed by during cold days. The café had quickly become one of Marinette’s favorite spots to design just because she always got her best ideas while working. 

Of course, the presence of a certain ex-model certainly didn’t hurt. 

She hadn’t believed him when he first told her that he was Adrien Agreste simply because he didn’t look a thing like him. Marinette had read all about the estranged relationship between Adrien and his father Gabriel Agreste, the owner of France’s largest fashion company Gabriel, how as soon as Adrien had turned eighteen he severed all ties with his father, took his inheritance, swore off modeling for good and disappeared from the public eye. It was rumored that he’d started university somewhere in Paris, but other than that, no one had seen hide or hair of him until Marinette submitted a job application to Le Café Miraculous. 

Adrien was the one who interviewed Marinette for the job. The owners of the café, Tikki and Plagg, were a cute elderly couple that Marinette had met once three months after she started working there. They spent most of their time exploring the French countryside and occasionally checked up on how things were going in the café. As long as things went smoothly, which it did, Plagg and Tikki never bothered them much about business in the café. 

The interview went fine. Marinette had plenty of experience in customer service from her time working at her parent’s patisserie. Overqualified, in fact, was what Adrien said when he offered her a job right on the spot. 

“I can’t work full time,” Marinette stated firmly. “I have class most mornings, but I should be free on most evenings.”

“Understandable, I also have class to deal with. All employees have to take a weekend shift though. Would you prefer Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening, Sunday afternoon, or Sunday evening?”

“I’ll take Friday night. I don’t go out much anyways.”

He smiled, “Nino will be happy to hear that. He might make you cover some of his night shifts. He DJ’s for clubs on the weekends.”

“Oh, cool,” Marinette replied. “So where do you go to school?”

“I’m studying physics at L’universitie de Paris. What about you?”

“I’m a fashion and design student at the École de la Chambre Syndicale.”

Adrien froze. 

“You okay?” Marinette frowned.

“Why are you here?” he asked coldly.

Taken aback, Marinette replied a bit forcefully, “Like I said, my parents own a patisserie so money isn’t easy to come by and I decided to earn—”

“No, why are you really here?”

“I, I don’t understand.”

“Don’t think you’re not the first fashion student to come in here and pretend to apply for a job to get an internship with my father or to see where Adrien Agreste disappeared off to.”

“Look, I just want a j—wait did you say Agreste?”

He nodded curtly. 

“As in Adrien Agreste, Gabriel Agreste’s son?” Marinette asked skeptically. 

He nodded again. 

“Psh, yeah right” she scoffed. “If you’re Adrien Agreste then I’m Vera Wang.”

He looked at her pointedly. 

“Wait you’re being serious?” 

He nodded. 

Marinette looked him over. At first glance, he looked nothing like the Adrien Agreste she remembered from the magazines. Gone were the carefully coiffed wavy blond locks. His golden hair, which was usually tied back, fell to his shoulders. Sharp cheekbones and lean but toned figure replaced the once round cheeks and thin wiry frame. He had a few cartilage piercings and a tattoo of a black cat on his left forearm. Even his vivid green eyes were different, though at the time, Marinette thought that was his only feature that was recognizably the same. He certainly wasn’t the Adrien Agreste the world had known five years ago. 

She took a breath, “Look, it doesn’t matter who you are or who your dad is. I just need this job.”

He raised his eyebrows, “You really don’t care?”

“Not in the slightest.”

Adrien relaxed, “Okay, awesome. Because it would really suck if I had to turn you away. We’ve been looking for someone to do the icing on our pastries after Nathanael left last month.”

Marinette laughed, “Good, because I really don’t care about you or your dad, wait, it’s not that I don’t care about you as a person. I’m sure you’re a great guy and all I just, I’m going to stop talking before I say more stupid things.”

“No worries,” he chuckled. “Can you start next Monday?”

And that’s how she got here on another Friday night lull, hair tied back in a small bun, black apron over her white jeans and pink shirt, blue eyes staring absentmindedly at another design that was starting to look too similar to the blond manager who was handing the only customer in the café his signature drink, Le Chat Noir (which is black coffee with a double espresso shot, the coffee counterpart to their other hugely popular caffeinated tea Ladybug Spots, which was actually Marinette’s mother’s recipe that she used whenever she needed to pull all nighters. Both drinks were always super popular during exam week). 

Marinette had been grappling with her feelings for a few months now, deciding whether or not she should actually tell Adrien that she sort of really like him and that it would be cool to hang out with him outside of work and that it was getting real frustrating to see him pop up in all of the sketches she drew because she’d start daydreaming and stop paying attention to what she was doing (Okay maybe not that last part). 

She was just scared. She didn’t want Adrien to think that she was just baiting him all along, like how he thought she was when they first met. She’d seen firsthand how that affected him when a few weeks after she was hired, another girl came in with an application and began giggling uncontrollably when she saw him. He was always polite, but she noticed how the smile never reached his eyes during those moments. That was how Marinette discovered the existence of the ‘model mask’ as she liked to call it. His eyes were like that in all of the magazine shoots she’d seen. 

The Adrien now (dare she say the Adrien that she was maybe falling in love with) had no inhibitions. When he laughed, he laughed fully, shoulders shaking as the sound of his laughter bounced through the room. His smile was not small and polite but dorky and lopsided. And his shit-eating grin whenever he delivered those horrible puns made his jokes all the more bearable. And his eyes would light up in a way that the camera could never capture. Marinette never wanted him to be forced back into the façade he worked so hard to shed. 

But Marinette didn’t want this to be another 'what if' moment in her life. She was going to tell him and she was going to do it today. 

The moment was perfect. The café was quiet save for the absentminded scratch of Marinette’s pencil. The setting sun filtered through the windowpane, illuminating the dust that swirled through the air. 

“Whatchya working on?”

Marinette jumped in surprise, quickly closing her sketchpad and knocking over the cup of stirrers in the process. 

“Oh merde, sorry.”

Adrien chuckled, “No, it was my fault for scaring you like that. Just wanted to say good job on the cookies. The decorations turned out great!”

Marinette blushed slightly at the compliment, “Thanks, I’m glad you liked them.”

“I did,” he looked around, “it’s pretty quiet here.”

“It’ll probably pick up a bit after everyone gets off work,” Marinette replied.

Adrien nodded in agreement.

“Hey Adrien?”

“Mmm?”

Marinette took a breath, “Can I talk to you?”

“Well, I mean you already are,” he responded with a cheeky grin.

Marinette stared at him, eyebrows raised in a ‘did you really just’ manner. 

“Okay, okay sorry,” he laughed, “You were saying?”

“I erm, well I don’t really know how else to say this but,” she pulled at her apron nervously, staring down at her pink flats. “I have feeling for you. I like you, a lot actually and I, I wanted you to know that.”

She looked up to find his expression unreadable, his green eyes refusing to give her any sort of clue as to what was going on in his head. 

“I,” he began, “How long?”

“What?” 

“How long have you had feelings for me?”

Marinette looked down again, “A few months.”

She could feel her heart pounding in her chest in the silence and wondered if it was loud enough for him to hear. 

“I, I need a moment,” Adrien replied softly, “to figure out what to say.”

He didn’t wait for her to reply, quickly disappearing into the back room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laughter is the best medicine

When Nathanael quit to move to Germany for art school, Adrien did his best to not freak out. But years of modeling had only taught him to internally suppress any anxiety inducing thoughts until he found himself in the café kitchen after closing hours with a batch of bare slightly burned sugar cookies and a countertop covered in vanilla icing. 

“That’s it!” he proclaimed in frustration to the empty kitchen. “I need to find someone who knows how to decorate cookies.”

A month after putting up “Help Wanted” flyers on the café’s front window and around the university, he got a call from a girl named Marinette Dupain-Cheng who said she had some experience in decorating pastries. 

The worst part of his job was conducting interviews. Adrien hated it. He had tried desperately to keep a low profile after his heavily covered resignation from Gabriel and the rest of Agreste Industries, but word got out about a devastatingly handsome blond barista at Le Café Miraculous possibly being Adrien Agreste and all hell broke loose. 

Adrien couldn’t go to work for over two weeks without paparazzi or fangirls camping out at the front door. It got so bad that Plagg had to file an official complaint for obstruction of property to get everyone to finally leave the place alone. After that, Adrien had taken a few weeks off of work and had come back with a few piercings and the aspirations to grow out his hair. Somewhere between the awkward stage of too short to tie up but too long to keep down and successful man bun, he’d accumulated a few more piercings and a tattoo of a sleek black cat. 

Thankfully, the interview went great. Adrien could tell from one glance at Marinette’s CV that she was well overqualified to work here. Hell, she could’ve probably been hired on the spot to take his job. She was firm, yet understanding when negotiating hours, which Adrien appreciated and had learned at the beginning of the interview that she found out about the job from her friend Alya, who had just started dating Nino. Satisfied that Marinette was actually interested in the job and not some secret fangirl, he had just started to let his guard down a bit until she mentioned that she was a fashion and design student. 

“Why are you here?” 

She seemed a bit taken aback, “Like I said, my parents own a patisserie so money isn’t easy to come by and I decided to earn—”

“No, why are you really here?”

Marinette was obviously very confused and after her initial disbelief at his identity and her insistence that it didn’t matter, Adrien visibly relaxed, glad that he wouldn’t have to send away what would probably be the best employee the café’s ever had. They’d been desperately in need of proper pastries. 

As she was leaving, Adrien stopped her. Rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, he said, “Hey, sorry about yelling at you earlier about…” he waved his hand in the air.   
“It’s okay,” Marinette replied. “I understand. I’d want a quiet life after being in the spotlight for years.”

“Thanks, so I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

Marinette smiled brightly as she opened the door on her way out, turning just as the sun caught lit up her brilliant blue eyes, “See you tomorrow.”

After the door closed behind her, Adrien let out a breath he hadn’t noticed he was holding in. 

And that was it. Marinette had slowly become an integral part of his day. He was always the first to taste anything she baked for the café and her primary taste tester for any new teas she wanted to try out. Their caffeinated coffee and tea paring Le Chat Noir and Ladybug Spots were the café’s top two drinks. Their patrons had fallen in love with each new batch of baked goods and had suggested expanding the café to include a bakery. But they were all just university students trying to get by so they indulged their patrons in their fanciful ideas and went on with life. 

He didn’t notice when not seeing Marinette became abnormal until she caught the flu a few months into working and had to call in sick for the week. Adrien spent all week dragging his feet throughout the café, just going through the motions of doing his job, not understanding why he felt so out of place until Nino confronted him about it one night after closing. 

“Dude, just go see her.”

“What?” Adrien looked up from the book he was reading in the kitchen.

“Marinette. You’ve been sulking all week.”

“What’re you getting at?”

Nino raised his eyebrows over his glasses and pointed the wet rag he was using to wipe down the countertop at Adrien, “You know exactly what I’m getting at. Just go see her. Say hi. Bring soup. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.”

That’s how he found himself in front of Marinette’s apartment complex that night, hovering his hand over the buzzer next to her name. Adrien initially wanted to surprise her, so she had absolutely no idea he was here, but now he was starting to think he should’ve at least called beforehand to make sure she wasn’t asleep. 

“Well you’re here now Agreste. Better get inside before the soup gets cold,” he chided himself mentally and pressed the buzzer.  
“Hello?” Marinette’s voice came through the small speaker sounding incredibly scratchy.

“Hey Marinette! It’s Adrien. I heard you were sick so I thought I’d stop by with some soup and see how you’re doing,” he said cheerfully. 

Adrien heard a crash and the static through the speaker stopped for a beat before he heard Marinette reply, “Oh that’s so nice of you. I just—come in—just give me a few seconds to er—to tidy up a bit.”

She buzzed him in and he slowly made his way up the two flights of stairs to her apartment, giving her time to throw away some scattered tissues he suspected. He tapped lightly on her door and was greeted by an obviously tired and sick but still bright-eyed Marinette wrapped in a blanket in pink cotton pajamas and black cat slippers. 

“Hi Adrien,” her voice less worse in person than through the speaker and Adrien let out s small sigh of relief that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in until just then.

“Hi,” he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “sorry for coming by so late unannounced.”

“Don’t apologize. I should be thanking you for being so considerate. Is that chicken noodle soup?”

He smiled, “I heard it’s good for colds.”

She laughed, “How cliché of you.”

“My Lady, I am nothing if not cliché,” he mock bowed, handing her the thermos of soup.

Marinette’s lips curled into a smirk, “So I’ve noticed.”

There was a beat of silence before both of them spoke at the same time.

“Well, I’ll see you soon then.”

“ Would you like to come in?”

Adrien chuckled, “I don’t want to trouble you.”

“It’s really no trouble at all. Besides, what kind of a person would I be if I didn’t properly thank my friend for bringing me soup when I’m sick with some hot cocoa?”

Adrien beamed and followed her inside to the kitchen. Her apartment was small, but cozy, and it seemed to bring together every aspect of Marinette into one location. She had a small living room with a comfortable couch facing a decent sized T.V. and game console with a coffee table in between with a stack of magazines, a game controller and a small pile of games underneath. A desk strewn with papers and scraps of fabric with a sewing machine stored underneath it was next to a door that led out to the fire escape. 

Her kitchen, unlike her desk, was spotless, save for a few unwashed cups in the sink. He watched as Marinette pulled out a bowl from one of the cabinets and turned on the teakettle to boil some water for the cocoa. 

“I hope you like the soup,” Adrien said, leaning against the kitchen counter. “It was my mom’s recipe.”

She turned, mixing coca powder into the water, “Really? Did you make it yourself?”

“It was the first thing I learned how to make after I moved out. Here, let me,” he took the cup of coca from her hands and began to mix the powder in. 

“I’m sure it’ll be amazing then,” she replied, starting to fill a bowl with piping hot soup. 

“No no no,” Adrien stopped stirring his coca and snatched the thermos away from a perplexed Marinette. “I told you I would do it. Go sit down. You’re sick.”

“I feel fine,” Marinette replied, rolling her eyes.

“Oh really?” Adrien turned to look at her. “You’re shivering under the blanket and you look exhausted. Go sit down.”

“Yes, mom.”

He laughed, “Hot soup coming right up.”

“You know I live alone,” Marinette called, walking to the couch. “I’m perfectly capable of being self-sufficient even if I’m sick.”

Adrien followed her with a bowl of warm soup in one hand and a mug of piping hot coca in the other. Handing her the bowl and sitting down next to her on the couch, he replied, “While I’m well aware of your infinite extraordinary abilities—

Marinette laughed.

“—no one should have to be on their own when they’re not feeling well.”

She looked up from her soup, surprised to meet Adrien’s sad eyes. 

“The soup’s really good!” she blurted. 

He smiled softly, looking into his coca, “Good, I’m glad you like it.”

Marinette frowned slightly, “Adrien.”

“Hmm?”

“How’re you?”

Adrien looked up at her, “What do you mean?”

“How are you?”

He blinked, taken aback, “I-I’m fine?”

“You don’t seem sure about that,” she noted, before taking a sip of her soup. 

He shrugged, “I dunno, things aren’t to bad I guess now that I’ve stopped modeling. Classes are going alright. Living by myself is a little quiet but it’s nothing I’m not used to. And I’ve got a nice job with good pay and decent company.”

“I’d like to think I’m more than decent company, thank you very much,” Marinette teased. 

“You are,” Adrien replied. “But you left me with Nino the whole week, which basically means you left me alone with Nino and Alya for the week and that was just cruel.”

Marinette laughed, “And for that, I’m really sorry.”

“I’ll take your apology into consideration,” he sighed and then said. “But yeah, it’s not bad.”

“But is it good?”

He exhaled, “I hated being a model, Marinette. I didn’t mind modeling, but I hated being a model.”

“Why did you quit?” Marinette asked. But before he could answer she said, “Sorry! That’s none of my business. Forget I said anything.”

Adrien shook his head, “No, it’s fine. I actually haven’t really talked to anyone about this before.”

“You don’t have to,” she said softly.

“I know, but I want to.”

Marinette had another spoonful of soup.

“My dad, he meant well probably,” Adrien ran his fingers through his hair, “but after mom died he never left work. He was married to his job. I guess one day he noticed I had a decent face for the job.”

“That’s an understatement,” Marinette murmured.

“What?”

“Nothing, sorry, keep going,” she responded, feeling her cheeks flush. 

“The only time he’d see me is if it was work related. And that’s why I kept modeling, I guess. I figured if I could get close to him at work, he’d have a reason to be around more. I figured out that wasn’t working after a while so I quit. And I left.”

“Have you talked to him at all since you moved out?”

Adrien shook his head, “I’ve talked to Nathalie, his secretary, a few times on the phone but he’s never available.”

“That’s bullshit!”

Adrien’s head snapped up to look at her, shocked at her volatile outburst. Marinette’s normally calm blue eyes had hardened like cold steel. 

“Adrien Agreste, you are a gift to the world. You’re amazing and sincere and compassionate, and a really great friend,” her lips quivered with anger. “Anyone who’s too blind to see that doesn’t deserve your time and I’m sorry your father is one of them.”

“Marinette I—”

“Don’t,” she held her hand up at him. “If you say anything that doesn’t support how much of an awesome person you are I will never speak to you again.”

Adrien blinked, and then laughed in surprise, “I was going to say thank you. Marinette, you’re amazing. You’re going to be a really great designer one day.”

“Thanks, Adrien,” she swirled her soup around with her spoon. “But what you said got me thinking, what if I’m not cut out for it?”

“What do you mean?”

“What if it’s all too much? I don’t mean the work. I can handle the work. I mean, what if that’s all I become? Your dad does nothing but work. I don’t want to do that, but what if I end up having to? Would it even be worth it?”

Adrien turned to Marinette and saw for the first time, something deeply vulnerable about her eyes. And at that moment, Adrien felt privileged to be considered worthy enough of her trust. 

“Marinette, my father works, I think, because he doesn’t want to deal with things that he can’t do anything about. My mom died. He kept working. I left. He kept working. That’s what he does. That doesn’t mean that’s what you’ll do. And you won’t,” he smiled, “because you’re Marinette, the bravest of them all.”  
She blushed and mumbled, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” Adrien grinned, “that you’re too stubborn to leave things alone.”

“I like to call it persistence,” she retorted, smiling. 

Adrien laughed, and checked his watch, “It’s getting late. I should probably get going. And you, need to get some sleep. If I see you at work tomorrow I’m sending you straight home.”

Marinette sighed; as if she knew arguing with him would be pointless at this point.

“Thanks for the soup,” she said, getting up from the couch and walking with him to the door, “Not too many people would go out of their way to do that for someone.”

He turned toward her at the doorsill and smiled, “Well, what are friends for?”

“Get home safely,” she replied sternly.

He couldn’t help but laugh at her mock straight face, “I will, good night Mari.”

He turned to leave but before he could go he felt something grab his arm and pull him back. Small, strong arms wrapped around him into a tight hug.

“Thank you, I’m really glad you’re my friend,” Marinette whispered.

Getting over his initial surprise at Marinette’s actions, he returned the hug, mentally noting how easily her small frame fit in his arms.

“Thank you,” he replied softly. Impulsively, he kissed the top of her head and slowly pulled away from her embrace. “Feel better soon.”

“Will-do-I, I mean, I do will, I will do that!” her face flushed.

Adrien chuckled under his breath, waved, and turned to go. He got halfway to the stairs when he heard her call his name and turned, questioningly.

“Have you considered getting a pet?” she asked. “Like a cat or something maybe?”

He tilted his head, musing over the idea before replying, “I have heard cats make meow-velous companions.”

Marinette watched as his face split into a shit-eating grin at the pun. Unexpectedly, she burst into laughter; pealing bells ricocheted off the hallway walls. The sound made Adrien’s shoulders relax warmth washing over him. Turning to leave, he caught her eye, still shining from the laughter he caused and his stomach leaped into his throat. 

Well, shit. So that's what Nino meant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Says she'll update next week  
> *6 months later*
> 
> Hey guys! Look who finally decided to write some more of this! Thank you to everyone that read the first chapter. And a special thank you to those who commented and left some really great feedback. It was much appreciated. I promise you won't have to wait as long for the next chapter. 
> 
> As always feel free to comment or message me on Tumblr at lizzrossstories 
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> -Liz


	3. Chapter 3

Marinette fiddled with her apron anxiously, her eyes darting to the unmoving back room door until she couldn’t stand it and began pacing, trying to find anything to keep her hands busy. 

_How could you just tell him?! What were you thinking? He probably didn’t even know that you liked him and now he’s going to think you just like him because he’s Adrien Agreste._

She considered wiping down the tables since it would be almost time for the post college class rush but decided against it since the tables would be just as sticky after anyway. Groaning, she checked the café to confirm that the only patron, an old man in a Hawaiian shirt with his nose deep in a book, was occupied, and slid behind the counter and called Alya. 

“This better be good girl,” Alya answered after the third ring. “I’ve got a deadline to meet.”

“It’s okay, it’s not important,” Marinette replied quickly.

“Girl.”

“I’ll talk to you later then okay?”

“Marinette.”

“Alya.”

“When you say it’s not important, it usually is. Talk to me. What’s up?”

Marinette sighed. Alya really did know her too well. 

“Well, you know how Adrien and I have the same shift?”

“All too well, Mari dear.”

“Well, I sort of toldhimthatIlikehim,” she blurted. 

“You did what!” Alya screeched.

“I know, I know, it was stupid—”

“Girl why are you calling me instead of making out with blond and dangerously sexy in the stockroom or something. Unless you already did that! Ooooh spill all the details. Is he a good kisser? Did you feel up his abs? Oh, the things I would love to do to those abs.”

“Alya!” Marinette cried, shocked. “You have a boyfriend! I don’t think Nino would be too happy with you if he heard you talking like this.”

“Oh please,” Alya laughed. “Nino and I have agreed that Pretty Boy is on our ‘Go For It’ List for both of us, preferably at the same time.”

“Alya!”

“Oh don’t worry Marinette, you can join too.”

Marinette couldn’t help but laugh, covering her face as she felt the blush fill her cheeks, “I’m sure that’ll make you happy.”

“You know I’ve been trying to get in your pants for years now,” Alya teased. “Maybe this was my master plan all along.”

“Well, I’d hate to spoil your plan,” Marinette replied, stubbornly trying to ignore the sudden stinging in her eyes, “but Adrien doesn’t like me.”

“What do you mean,” Alya’s voice was laced with confusion. “You told him right?”

“Yeah, but he didn’t say anything. He just said he needed a minute and walked into the back room.”

“He what?!”

 

“You what?!” Nino’s voice rang from Adrien’s phone in admonishment. 

“I know, I know,” Adrien sighed into the receiver, leaning against the stockroom door. “It was stupid.”

“Stupid?! Nah, thinking that I could kick your ass in Ultimate Mecha Strike III was stupid. You’ve gone beyond stupid.”

“Well then what should I do?”

“Go back out there. Take her face. And kiss the living daylight out of her.”

“You know, you’re starting to sound a lot like Alya.”

“I can’t help it,” he sighed. “She’s rubbing off on me. You know she’s gonna kill you when she finds out about this right?”

“I know and I just walked out on her. I can’t go out and just kiss her. She probably doesn’t even want to see me right now.”

“Bro, you like her. Don’t deny it because I know you do.”

“Yeah.”

“Then just go out there and tell her. Why’re you still talking to me?”

“Because—”

“Because what? Dude, nothing you say is going to convince me otherwise.”

“Because I’m not good enough for her!” He yelled exasperated. “Okay, Nino? I’m not. Marinette is beautiful and intelligent and wonderful and incredibly talented and she deserves more than an ex-model living in a dingy apartment that pays for said dingy apartment by working in a café. She deserves someone who will give her everything she wants, not someone who still flinches behind the counter every time a new person walks in. Maybe if I was still a model, then yeah I guess that would make sense but—”

“Adrien Michel Agreste—”

“That’s not my middle name.”

“That might be the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever said,” Nino said. “If you think any of what you just said is true, then you really are an idiot and I haven’t been doing my job as your best friend correctly. Go talk to her, okay? Before Alya murders you for being an idiot.”

“You’d have my back though right?”

“Against Alya?” Nino snorted, “No way, bro. You’re on your own for that.”

“Love you too Nino.”

 

“Alya don’t you dare think about coming over here, okay?” Marinette hissed into her phone. “I can handle this okay?”

“Just let me punch his perfect little face just once. I bet it’s not even insured anymore.”

“Alya do—”

The bell on the counter rang.

Marinette shot up from behind the counter, “Alya I have to go.”

“Is he back? Marinette you need to tell me every—”

“I’m so sorry about that,” Marinette said, smoothening her apron down before looking up at her patron, “What can I do for you?”

The old man in the Hawaiian printed shirt smiled and held out his thermos, “Just a refill for the road, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course, I’ll get that for you right away,” Marinette replied, taking the cash from his outstretched hand. “It was the Ladybug Spots right?”

“Yes.”

Marinette handed him his receipt and turned around to get started on his order, briefly glancing over at the still unmoving door, wondering if Adrien had been so embarrassed that he just left out through the back without telling her.

“Here you are _Monsieur_ ,” she handed him his now steaming mug of tea. 

“ _Merci beaucoup mademoiselle_ ,” he took the mug from her hand and met her eye. “Don’t be afraid my dear. You two seem like you’ll get through tougher times than this.”

Marinette arched her eyebrow in confusion, “I’m sorry?”

The old man gave her a pointed look and glanced behind her before nodding as he took his leave.

“Marinette?”

Her breath hitched, not wanting to turn around but knowing she should. His green eyes pierced her gaze as she looked up to meet him. He was waiting right outside the back room, rubbing his toe on the linoleum floor, hesitant. His mouth was a thin hard line and suddenly, Marinette’s throat went dry in dread. 

“Look, Adrien, I’m sorr—”

She didn’t even see him but suddenly her eyelids had slammed shut and Adrien Agreste was _kissing her_ , kissing her like he couldn’t believe she was real, like she was the one who’d stolen his breath away and not the other way around. 

Before her arms could wrap around his neck, he pulled away.

“I-I’m sorry,” he stammered, utterly flushed. “I shouldn’t have done that without your permission but I-I panicked because you were starting to apologize—even though that’s no excuse—but you just said everything so suddenly and I was confused and you were—and you said it—and god damn it you beat me to it and I just couldn’t believe it. I’m sorry.”

Marinette blinked, “What?”

“I like you Marinette,” he confessed, “I think I might even be falling in love with you. I don’t know, but I do know that in no universe would I ever be lucky enough to deserve you. You, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, are so put together, so talented. Why would you ever want a guy who is terrified of letting someone get close enough to hurt him?” 

“Adrien,” Marinette said softly, glad her voice still managed to work after _kissing Adrien freaking Agreste_ , “I like you for you. I like the sweet, considerate person who brought me homemade hot soup when I was sick, the one who always checks up on me when I’m having a rough day. I like you, not the model who doesn’t exist anymore but the person you’re slowly letting the world see. And I’d love to see more of that person, if you’d let me.”

“You like me?” He asked, sounding disbelieving.

“More than anything.”

She leaned in to kiss him again when he asked, “But, why?”

Marinette sighed, “Haven’t you been listening you dork? You are amazing and kind and sincere and caring and—”

Whatever Marinette had left to say, Adrien was sure he would hear it later, but right then all he wanted to do was kiss her until she knew exactly how he felt about her.

“Wait,” Marinette pulled away after a few kisses. “Why did you run away?”

“I guess I was just surprised,” he replied. “I didn’t think you’d like me in that way and it just came out of nowhere.”

“That’s what I get for bottling up all of this sexual tension for months now.”

Adrien raised his eyebrows, “Sexual tension?”

“Oh, shut up Agreste,” Marinette tugged on his shirt lightly, pulling him closer. “You know you look good.”

“Marinette, if you wanted a little peep show all you had to do was ask,” he teased. “I aim to please, after all.”

Color flooded Marinette’s cheeks and Adrien reveled at the effect he seemed to have on her. “You’re just all talk, Agreste.”

He grinned, leaning in, “Guess I’ll just have to start acting on my words then.”

Their kiss this time was gentle, caring, as their lips acquainted themselves with each other. Her hands roamed his back and wove through his hair as he sighed into her mouth. When she pulled away though, she had a confused look on her face.

“Mari?”

“What did you mean when you said I’d beat you to it?”

“Oh, that,” Adrien laughed, “I’d been planning on telling you that I liked you for weeks now but I was too afraid you were going to reject me. I just didn’t even consider that you’d get to it first.”

“That’s because, we Dupain-Cheng women are doers,” Marinette grinned, playfully poking Adrien’s nose.

“I can think of one thing I’d love for you to do right now,” Adrien smirked teasingly, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“You’re quite daring today, aren’t you?”

“My best friend just told me that she likes me. What’s not to be a little bold about?”

“I’m so glad you and Nino have finally confessed your feelings for each other,” Marinette replied, eyes darting to his lips.

Adrien chuckled, leaning in to capture her lips again, when the café door swung violently open.

Marinette and Adrien jumped apart, immediately looking at the now ajar door, revealing a flustered Nino and a very, very happy Alya.

“Sorry,” Nino began, rubbing the back of his neck, “I tried to stop her but—”

“Oooh girl, you need to call me later today and tell me everything. Agreste, you’re lucky you found some sense before I had to knock it in that beautiful blond hea—”

“You know what,” Nino interrupted loudly, “Alya and I are just gonna leave, pretend none of this ever happened. Go back to your previously scheduled activities. Come on Al.”

“But I still wanted coffee,” Nino took his girlfriend by the arm and dragged her across the street.

Marinette laughed, “Well that’s Alya for you.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Adrien replied, snaking an arm around Marinette’s waist. “Can I walk you home?”

“But we still have four hours left until closing.”

Adrien shrugged, “I’m sure no one would mind if we closed early just this once. Besides, I have more important things to do, like tell you how amazing you are.”

Marinette reached up to place a chaste kiss on Adrien’s lips, “Mmm, I think a kiss is enough to do the trick.”

“Maybe two?”

“Maybe three.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! Hope you all enjoyed this short story. Thank you to everyone who read, commented, and/or left kudos. It really brightened my day. I've got a few more story ideas in this crazy head of mine and I'd love for you to stick around. There'll definitely be a lot more crazy shenanigans with these two and the other members of the Miraculous characters to come. Until then, thanks for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful day!
> 
> -Liz
> 
> P.S. I firmly believe Adrien's middle name is something not pretentious at all. Michel just seems to roll off the tongue nicely, but to each their own. 
> 
> Questions, comments, concerns, wishes, desires, hopes and dreams, or just wanna chat? Feel free to message me on Tumblr at lizzrossstories

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea from this article about this same exact thing that actually happened to someone in real life! Don't read the article if you don't want spoilers. 
> 
> http://www.refinery29.com/2016/12/133499/cafe-employees-love-story-jerry-tweets
> 
> Also, I'm not sure how frequently I'll be posting new work, but if anyone wants to be my beta, send me a message on my tumblr lizzrossstories.tumblr.com 
> 
> The next chapter should be out by the end of this week (fingers crossed)! Feel free to leave comments/kudos and such. It really makes my day!
> 
> Love you all!
> 
> -Liz


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